The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1887-04-07

THE first English colony was sent to
America by Sir Walter Raleigh, unde the
auspices of Sir Richard Grenville. The
settlement was made on Roanoke Island,
in Albemarle Sound.-ED.
l.
The home bound ships stood out to sea,
And on the islands marge
Sir Richard waited restlessly,
To step into the barge.
The Governor tarrieth long" he chode,
''AS he were loath to ga
With TODD before and want behind,
There should be haste. l trow."
Even as he spake. the governor came:
May. fret not, for the men
Have held me back with frantic let,
To have them home again.
The women weep: 'Ay, ay, the ships
Will come again (he saith)
Before the May Before the May
We shall have starved to deatht
1--WE sworn return, by Gods dear leave,
I've vowed by court and crown,
Nor yet appeased them. Comrade, thou
Mayhap canSt soothe them down"
Sir Richard loosed his helm, and stretched
Impatient hands abroad.
'Have We no trust in manf' he cried,
Have We no faith in God2
Your governor goes, as needs he must,
To bear. through royal grace,
Hither such food supply that want
May never blench face.
''Of freest choice ye willed to leave
What so We had of ease;
For neither stress OF liege nor law
Hath forced you over seas.
Your governor leaves fair hostages
AS costliest pledge of care,-
His daughter yonder, and her child,
The child Virginia Dare.
Come hither, little sweetheart So.
Thou'lt be the first, l ween.
To bend the knee, and send through me
Thy birthland's virgin fealty
Unto its Virgin Queen.
And now, good folk, for my commands:
If We are fain TO roam
Beyond this islands narrow bounds
To seek elsewhere home,
Upon some pine trees smoother trunk
Score deep the Indian name
OF tribe or village where We haunt,
That we may read the same.
.'And if ye leave your haven here
Through dire distress or loss.
Cut deep within the wood above
The symbol of the cross.
"And now on my good blade swear,
And seal it with this sign,
That if the fleet that sails TO day
Return not hither by the May,
The fault shall not be mine''
The breath of spring was on the sea-
Anon the governor stepped
His good ships deck right merrily;
His promise had been kept.
''See. see. the coast line comes in view"
He heard the mariners shout
"Well drop our anchors i'll the sound
Before a star is Out''
Now God be praised he inly breathed.
who saves from all that harms:
The morrow morn my pretty Ones
Will rest within my arms
At dawn of day they moored their ships,
And dared the breakers roar.
What meant ii? Not man was there
To welcome them ashore.
They sprang to find the cabins rude;
The quick green sedge had thrown
Its knOttet web DER every door
And climbed each chimney stone.
The spring was choked with winters leaves,
And feebly gurgied on;
And frcm the pathway, strewn with wrack,
All trace of feet was gone.
Their fingers third the matted grass,
If there perchance mound
Unseen might heave the broken turf;
But not a grave was found.
They beat the tangled cypress swamp,
If haply in despair
They might have strayed into its glade,
B It found no vestige there.
1.-The pine the pine!" the govern groaned
And there each star ny man
Read in maz-., one single word
Deep carven, n,-CRo-A-TAN!
But cut above, no cross, no sign,
No symbol Of distress;
Naught else beside that mystic line,
Within the Wilderness!
And where and what was "Cro-a-tan"2
But not an answer came,
And none of all who read it there
Had ever heard the name!
The governor drew his jerkin sleeve
Across his misty eyes:
'.Some land. maybe, of savagerie
Beyond the coast that lies.
"And skulking there the willy foe
In ambush may nave lain:
Gods mercy! Could such sweetest heads
Lie scalped among the sla'ns
..Oh, daughter, daughter! with The thought
My narrowed brain is wid!-
Tn With the anchors, / must find
The mother and the child!'
They secured the mainland near and far
The search no ridngs brought,
Till. md IL forests dusky tribe,
They heard the name they sought.
The kindly atives came with gifts
OF corn and slaughtered deer:
What room for savage treacheFy
Or foul suspicion heref
Unhindered Of a chief or brave,
They searched the wigwams through,
But neither lance. nor helm, nor spear,
Nor shred of child's nor woman's gear,
Could furnish forth clue.
How could hundred souls be caught
Straight out of of life, nor find
Device through which to mark their fat'
Or leave some hint behind3
Had winters ocean inland rolled
An eagres deadly spray
| That overwhelmed the islands breadth